I play high stakes online poker and use my machine to run several poker clients on different sites at different times, plus running a large database in Holdem-Manager.

The importance of being able to run all the different programs with zero lag or freezeups is paramount. Any crashing or lagging can be VERY costly. Im guessing a fast processor, lots of ram and SSD hard drives to run Windows+database would be best, and then one SATA drive for data.

This is what I have picked out so far, I just chose the maximum specs for every option. Obviously I will not buy this setup as it seems unnecessarily costly. Can you guys suggest me which ones are actually going to give practical benefit, and perhaps suggest more cost-sensible options?

This was around $3.2k USD which seems excessive. The graphics card is totally unecessary, so please suggest something reasonable.

http://www.invadeit.com/Assemble.asp...7-e1e31e09e4df


This is what I put together for 7.5k on Alienware, but obviously this is totally ridiculous:
Any very helpful advice will be rewarded kindly ($).

Thanks.

Video-card:

I have 2 x 30" dell 3008wfps. Displayport, HDMI, and DVI are available. Which plug is the best to use? Whichever is best, please specify a graphics card with 2x this option.

Processor:

The Intel i7 X 980 seems to be the best available without going Xeon which is only for servers right? This processor is around $1k usd. Does it offer real performance benefits over those half or a quarter of the price?

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Memory:
What is the maximum practical amount of RAM? 6 or 8 or 12GB? Does the 1333 vs 1600mhz make any difference?

SSDs and storage
What about SSDs? Are Intel ok or is it better going for another brand of SSDS? What about running two of the 80gbs in Raid 0? That should ensure lightning fast performance for Holdemanager queries right?

You also want a reliable connection. Get a dual-input router with failover capability and subscribe to two different methods of connecting to the internet. If price is really no concern, get two fractional T1 lines from different vendors.
Don't forget to hang everything off a UPS.
I know of what I speak, I have built systems that ran 24/7 for more than 4 years without an interruption.

some of the euro sites are so bad it doen't really matter what your computer is; crashes just aren't your fault.

fyi you can't say you offer money here; your post will be edited.

so based of invadeit shopping list:
>no need for such an expensive CPU, just get a quad core i7-930
>motherboard ok; they don't seem to carry EVGA mobo; but ASUS is ok.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-r...xtreme-review/
pretty expensive though; just get a cheaper ASUS one if you want to spend less; they seem to carry the Asus P6T SE
>hard drive choices are ok esp. intel ssd
>ram goes by 3 sticks with this peculiar CPU architecture; so either you go for 6 or 12 GB; 6 should be enough.
>graphic card: get a 5870 instead. can even run 3 30 inch monitors if you want!
check this out http://www.youtube.com/user/maxishin.../4/i_ryCJKz1N8 video on how to set up 3 30 inches with the radeon card
>power supply should be ok. not if you absolutely want a 5970 though, go for 1000W at least then.
>case :you'll need a better case than that; cooling is an issue; you basically want a big case than can fit a few big fans (bigger means less noise)
Noctua is a good brand for fans; you want 120mm ones
>buy a better CPU cooler, makes less noise and makes your CPU runs cooler than the standard Intel one that comes with your CPU; again Noctua is a good brand get a Noctua NH-D14
if you cant find a Noctua distributor look for Zalman or Thermaltake brands

You live in Thailand? heat/humidity might be an issue so you prob don't want to overclock your system so no need for an uber expensive motherboard or expensive ram memory

intel ssd shoud be the best for HEM; some newer models are faster buy the intel ones still get the best of them when it comes to write lots of very small files like for databases.

Im more of a hands on kind of guy

Buy two SSD intel drives

Go to your local electronic store that has a good selection of computers

Buy the fastest pc possible ? at most consumer? 2 to 3k?

Newegg will get the drives to you in 1 to 2 days and youll be able to test drive the machine rather than look around peicing together the ultimate machine.

Do what you do and monitor your benchmarks and see where anything is not of your liking. From there you can evaluate your bottlenecks or if its of your liking you can spend time at the tables rather than worrying about the machine.

If you dont like it return it back to the store but make sure theres no restocking fee.

7.5k seems awefully alot for a computer. It better talk back to you for that much and greet you every morning.

Totally wrong build for ultimate "stability and performance."

Start with a server mb like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131378

Then get 2x
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819117228

You'll have so much wasted computing power it's not funny but this would be a good base for the "ultimate".

Then get 3x
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167019

in RAID 10 for extra performance and data security.

Ideally an SLC SSD would be much better but the prices are ridiculous. But if I really were to go for the "ultimate" it would be 7 or 8 of these in RAID 10
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167014

http://www.invadeit.com/Assemble.asp...3-450325470f20

Thoughts on this?

Suggestions for a very quite case/powersupply combo? I do not want flashing lights or anything like that, but if the most quiet cases have those, I guess I can just turn them off.

>you want that p6t: http://www.invadeit.com/product.aspx...9-da3a60e900a1
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=t4yhK6y9W9o7iQ9E
>only buy 6GB RAM; you can always add 6GB more later, really easy
>ATI 5770 willl run up to 3 30inches monitors for poker but will not run current games at full res on a single 30inch so if you intend to play at all get a 5870
http://www.invadeit.com/product.aspx...e-3abe0ca694b6

I got the following build from Puget Systems in October, they are premium builders and you will not be disappointed. I doubt you could upgrade any component to make a significant difference in speed.

System Core
Motherboard Asus Rampage II GENE [Testing complete.]
CPU Intel Core i7 QUAD CORE 920 2.66GHz 8MB 130W Overclocked to at least 3.6GHz [Testing complete.]
Ram Kingston HyperX 6GB DDR3-1600 (3x2GB) [Testing complete.]
Video Card XFX Radeon HD 5850 1GB (HD585AZNFC)

Substitution! Original Part: ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
Comments: 3 monitor support
[Testing complete.]
Storage
Hard Drive 2 x Intel X25-M 34nm Gen 2 80GB SATA II 2.5inch SSD

Comments: Primary drive - RAID 0
[Testing complete.]
CD / DVD Pioneer 22X DVD-RW SATA (black) [Testing complete.]
Pioneer 22X DVD-RW SATA (black) [Testing complete.]
Case / Cooling
Case Antec P183 (Gunmetal Finish with Window) [Testing complete.]
Power Supply Corsair TX 650W Power Supply [Testing complete.]
CPU Cooling Puget Hydro CL1 Liquid Cooling System 1366 [Testing complete.]
Additional Cooling Tuniq TX-2 Thermal Compound [Testing complete.]
Software
OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM [Testing complete.]
Software: Security AVG Antivirus Installation [NO SUPPORT] [Testing complete.]
Accessories
Services Warranty: Lifetime Labor, 1 Year Parts [Testing complete.]

Official Invoice

Subtotal: $2810.76

grizy's suggestion is overkill iyam but it goes in the right direction. particularly, i agree with the idea to buy workstation/server components if you want the highest stability with little regard to cost.

certainly, you *don't* want an overclocked gamer's system such as the alienware in the first post. OCing reduces stability and increases the probability of failures.

if you want an easy solution without having to do lots of research, I recommend a Dell Precision or HP Zx00 workstation. It's gonna be much more expensive than building yourself, but you get peace of mind and NBD service. You can purchase these in Dell or HP's small business store. A single-socket Xeon quad core or six core system should be sufficient. It would probably set you back at least $3k total.

i have the ati 5770 GC on a 32" on 1920x1080 and a second monitor on a bigger res. it works fine, even with games like MW2. but if cost is no problem, why not get 2? .

BUT... compared to my previous GC, the nvidia geforce 9500, the ati is much more unstable. it crashes a lot more etc. so, if you dont need HDMI sound with more than 44.1Khz (ati 5 series has this), i would buy nvidia if i were you.

ugh wtf do not put your drives in RAID0 if you care about reliability or potential catastrophic data loss.

agreed

I said RAID 10, not 0.

We could go a bit economical with RAID 3 or 5, but that sacrifices performance a little.

He did ask for the ultimate so I figured might as well shoot for the moon. Come to think of it, RAID 10 needs even numbered drives so forget 3SSDs, go for 4.

Hell, go for 10x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-014-_-Product You'll end up paying 6k for 320gb of god like performance and reliability. Pretty ultimate (waste of money) IMO.

OP
"Obviously I will not buy this setup as it seems unnecessarily costly."

Well Im not nitting it up, Im happy to buy something overkill for poker, but I dont need buy something that is overkill for going to the moon... not playing games, not doing graphic design, only playing poker.

The computer freezing on a semi-regular is worse for me than the computer randomly dieing once off and needing to be reformatted, as Im sure you could understand...

i7 + 12GB ram + SSDs in RAID0 for speed, and then 1 SATA for backup (this computer will only have hand histories and HUD, nothing else to backup since its for playing poker ONLY)? Sound reasonable?

Obviously with RAID0 you are going to have a backup image, I don't see the problem. I'm still getting much better performance than a new single drive after 9 months of heavy use and no TRIM.

If he's building computers by selecting the most expensive option on various companies configure pages then he's not going to reliably backup his data.

It was not directed at you, it was directed at the computers he was configuring with drives configured in raid0 for gaming machines. I agree that RAID10 is likely the best option for him.

RAID10 means two drives in striping and two drives mirroring? So 4 drives?

That seems rather costly but perhaps the most sensible option.

What about just RAID0 then taking an image of the hard-drives using Norton Ghost, backing it up to the SATA drive, then having the SATA drive do a routine backup of the important files (eg hand histories, and SQL database, thats only 2 things to backup). Worst case scenario you flash it with the backup image and then re-import the hand histories into HEM.

I'm not totally computer literate, I just haven't followed anything like this in the past 5+ years.

Help is very appreciated, thanks guys!

4 drives usually, yes. it's a stripe of mirrors

Get tons of Ram - Like 8 - 10 Gigs !